We discover that our potentials and life itself are a gift from God, since we have done nothing to achieve them. It is today that, with the strength of the Lord, we can live His Kingdom. St. Augustine reminds us of this with the words of Psalm 32:12: 'Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,' so that we can be aware of it, being part of this nation.
"Be prepared as well," this exhortation represents a call to faithfulness, which is never subordinated to selfishness. Our hope is in the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of times; but here and now, Jesus also becomes present in our life, in the simplicity and complexity of every moment. Our generous response towards humanity, towards each living being, is something just and full of love.
"To whom much has been entrusted, much will be asked." Today, with the reading of this Gospel fragment, we can see that each person is a steward: when we are born, we are all given an inheritance in our genes and abilities to fulfill ourselves in life, the qualities we must nurture throughout our existence.
"At the moment you least expect, the Son of Man will come," concludes Jesus in the first paragraph. They are a personal, unique, and non-transferable gift, and it is what gives us our personality. We have the responsibility to "respond" to the goods we have received along with our life. Blessed is that servant whom his lord, upon arrival, finds doing so. But if that servant says in his heart, 'My lord is taking a long time to come,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, to eat and drink and get drunk, the lord of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will separate him and assign him his fate among the unfaithful.
"That servant who, knowing his lord's will, has not prepared anything or acted according to his will, will receive many blows; the one who does not know it and does things deserving of blows will receive few; to whom much has been given, much will be demanded; and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be asked."
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: 'Understand this well: if the house owner knew at what hour the thief was coming, he would not let his house be broken into. "Knowing his lord's will" is what we call our 'conscience,' and it makes us responsibly dignified for our actions. They are the 'talents' that Jesus himself speaks of.
